


The Game

by ginnekomiko



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-25 07:56:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2614187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnekomiko/pseuds/ginnekomiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prequel drabble about a group of friends, and how a certain event might have started.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 12 AM

"Rika, it’s getting late, we should get home soon."

The girl kicked at the dirt. “Aww! But the game was just getting good! You’re only quitting because you don’t want to be ‘it’. I don’t get it! You’re the fastest out of all of us.”

"I don’t want to run right now, okay?" the boy shyly said as he looked at the ground. "Like I said, it’s getting dark. I want to go home."

"Fine! Be that way!" Rika pouted. She turned towards a tall tree and shouted, "Tori! Stop hiding already, you cheat! I know you’re up there!"

A few moments later, another girl landed on the ground. “I wasn’t cheating! I was getting bored! Anyway, you were going to switch the game to hide and seek before Todd turned chicken, right, Rika?”

"I’m not chicken!" Todd protested.

Rika grinned.”Yeah, I was planning on it. Where’s the fun in a game with the same rules all the time? Hey, Benny! We’re going!” There was no answer to her call. “Ugh! Guys, I think he wandered off again!”

Tori smiled. “Don’t worry, Rika. I saw him go in the direction of Freddy’s when I was in the tree. We can catch up with him there. If they’re still open, maybe we’ll get some cupcakes!”

"Sounds like a plan! Good thinking, Tori! Alright troops! Everybody move out!"

Todd walked in between the two girls. “Hey, is it because of that place that you go by Rika as a nickname?” he asked.

Rika scowled at him. “I’ve been associated with that dumb bear ever since everyone at school went there for birthday parties. Besides, being called ‘Freddie’ makes me sound like a boy! What kind of parents name their kid Fredrika, anyway?”

Tori’s grin widened. “Hey! Look! It’s one of the Freddy Fazbear guys! They must be open! Benny sure lucked out! Should we, Rika?”

"Of course we should! How often does an opportunity like this come up? We can’t let him have all the fun, now can we?"


	2. 1 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are fun at first.

Rika and her friends followed the familiar character into the doors of the pizza parlor. She glanced around in amazement. Maybe it was the fact that it was well past opening hours, but something about this place was just neat after dark. Every time they tried to go during the day, it was packed with pushy younger kids. Rika grinned. Now she could play all the games she wanted! She knew exactly which game she was going to go for first!

"Hey," Tori said. "I'm hungry. I'm going to head for the kitchen."

"Okay," Rika said as she put in a token. "Remember that the characters move around."

"Do you think they'd really move at night, though? I wonder if that freaks out the staff?"

Rika muffled a laugh. "If they do, I feel sorry for the night watch. Where's Todd?"

"I think he ran to the pirate area. That's his favorite. "Or maybe he's gone to the kiddie area. He keeps trying to fix that that one character. The... the one they made the take apart and put back together exhibit. I think he feels sorry for it."

"It doesn't _have_ any feelings, though. Todd's weird," Rika turned her eyes towards the screen. "When you're done, come back. I'm going to beat your score. I want you to see me do it."

"Sure, Rika. Want me to bring you back a cupcake?"

"I want vanilla, if you can grab it."

"Got'cha," Tori said before she dashed off.

Rika paused from her game. Shouldn't the night watch have noticed them by now? There was a camera in the corner of the room, but nobody had come to tell them they couldn't be in here. The whole thing was kind of strange, but she was on a roll with this game! If she kept this up, she'd get enough tickets for the best prize before she had to sneak back home. She paused. She could hear something behind her. She turned.

"Oh! Hi Freddy," she said to the large bear as it approached her. "Did you come to check up on me?"

The bear tipped his hat to her in response. She smiled a little at that. "Well, thanks. I've almost won all my tickets, so I probably won't stay much longer. I don't think we're really supposed to be here. This is fun to play as much as I want, but it's a little creepy."

Rika gathered up all of her won tickets and headed over to the prize counter. She ducked under the swinging side door and shuffled through the stuffed animals until she found the one she wanted. She ducked back under the door.

Freddy was there, in front of the counter, watching her. "I got a little you, see?" she said as she showed him her toy.

When she looked ahead, she saw someone standing by the balloon area.

"Benny!" she called. "There you are! Where have you been?"

The boy did not respond. Upon closer inspection, the balloons he was holding seemed to be tied to his wrist.

"Benny, are you okay?" she asked as she touched his back.

At the force of her touch, the boy slumped to the ground. When she looked at her hand, there was blood on it.

She covered her mouth, but a small scream still escaped. "B-Benny?"

He remained unmoving.

She ran for the door only to find it was locked. The others... where were the others? This might not work, but...

"Everyone! Hide!" she screamed with all her might.


	3. 2 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Todd plays in Kid's Cove.

Todd did his best to work with the limited light. The discarded animatronic lay on the floor of the Kid's Cove. He gathered as many of the scattered pieces as he could find. He checked under the chairs and tables, and double-checked in the toy boxes. When he finished searching, he spread them out on one of the child-sized tables. "Let's see here..." He took one of the pieces and got on his hands and knees. "You go here!"

Something clicked. The animatronic opened its eyes and blinked at him.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I wanted to put you all the way back together and find your body before I turned you on. Um, I can put a few more parts back. Are you okay with that?"

Slowly the head nodded.

"Okay. I don't know if you can feel pain, but if anything hurts, tell me somehow, okay? I'll stop."

Its eyes closed as he worked. "I wonder what you were called before?" he asked aloud. "I've heard them call you mangle, but I don't know, I think you could be great, like Foxy!"

Todd looked up. He saw something rush by on one of the TV screens. Something banged against the closed door. The animatronic lifted its head. He stayed silent for a moment. The banging continued as if a fight had broken out outside the door. He felt himself shake violently.

The animatronic looked at him. It reached out its one good arm and gently pushed him down under the exoskeleton. Todd carefully positioned himself so as not to get poked with any of the exposed parts. The door opened. Something was slowly walking around in the room. It had bear feet. He could hear it _breathing_.But animatronics couldn't breathe, right?


	4. 3 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori in the kitchen.

Tori wandered rather brazenly about the kitchen looking for easy snacks to grab. The frozen pizzas were no good. She didn't want to wait the extra time for them to cook in the oven. Besides, someone might notice the smell and come chase them out. The cupcakes were proving to be rather illusive. It was annoying. If she had known the locks would have been that hard to pick she would have rejoined her friends hours ago. They hadn't left without her, right? Rika would have surely come to get her if they suddenly decided they were done. Tori watched Chica patrol the halls again. At first, the bird had paid attention to her presence in the kitchen, but as the time passed, Chica became less and less concerned with her. Maybe her AI thought she was supposed to be there.

A soft click was like music to her ears.

"Finally!" she said as she opened the door. She pulled one of the cupcakes from a tray and stuffed it in her mouth.

The cupcakes were day-old, but she didn't care. They still tasted good! She was on her third when a small voice said, "Hi!"'

Tori turned to see a weird puppet-looking boy with balloons walk into the kitchen and just sit down next to her, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Oh right, they just added that character, didn't they? Tori continued to eat.

"Hi!" said the balloon boy again.

Was his voice track just a loop of the word 'hi'? That could get annoying fast. Chica patrolled the hall again. Tori watched as the giant bird tripped gracelessly right outside the front door. Tori couldn't help but laugh. It was too ridiculous! Chica's legs moved forward uselessly. Okay, now it was getting sad. Tori put down her half-eaten cupcake and walked over to the grounded bird.

"I hope you're not heavy," she said.

"Hi!" said balloon boy as he stood up and walked over to her.

Did it want her to acknowledge him?

"Hi. Can you help me lift her?" Tori asked.

With a little effort, Tori managed to get Chica on her feet again. Chica turned and hugged the girl.

"You're welcome," she said.

Something was banging against the walls in the hallway. Another animatronic was flailing wildly.

That was Bonnie, wasn't it? But what happened to his _face_? It was like something ripped half of it off.

Chica charged towards the faceless creature. Tori gently snuck back into the kitchen. Something about this didn't feel right. She bumped into something large. She turned when she heard it laughing.

That was Freddy, but it didn't move like Freddy did, and his fur was the wrong color.

She turned to run again, but the strong arms grabbed her and wouldn't let go. One paw covered her mouth, and she felt herself getting very sleepy. As she closed her eyes, she thought she heard someone crying.

It was the last sound she ever heard.


	5. 4 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Todd's in an air vent.

It was hard to balance being quiet and quick at a time like this. Todd's knees scrapped and banged against the metal air vents. It hurt to move too fast.

Though her heart was in the right place, Mangle was still sharp and her uncovered wires and metal parts pierced his skin while he hid under her.

But playing dead seemed to work. The strange character patrolled the room, but didn't seem to see him.

After it left, Todd wanted to get out so badly, that when Mangle offered to lift him high enough to get into the vent, he took it. He could do to not stop moving, otherwise he'd give in to the claustrophobic terror.

If he remembered the layout correctly, he might have a chance at getting out.

A soft clanging seemed to follow his movements in the vents. At first, he thought he was making the noise, but it continued to clang even when he stopped moving. The panic happed when a pair of eyes shined light on him. A metallic, almost skeletal hand reached out to him. Todd bit his own hand to keep himself from screaming and struggled to move backwards to give it room to move past him. The eyes and mouth of a naked animatronic were always unnerving. But wait, that couldn't be right, if one was missing its skin then...

One of the characters was a fake. Someone had deliberately led them into the pizzeria after hours, and they stupidly fell right into the trap. If that was the case, it was unlikely any of them would make it until morning. Todd stopped moving entirely and began to cry softly.


	6. 5 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rika hides in the security room.

Rika hid under the desk of the security office and did her best to muffle her sobs. She managed to squeeze through the slightly ajar door. The body of the security officer was slowly being dragged away. She could hear the soft shuffle outside the door. It was the sight of a strange monster trying to fit the lifeless body through the door that alerted her to the location in the first place. Once she was sure the hallway was clear, she made a mad dash. Right now, she had the door blocked with a trash can and a fan. She clutched her stuffed Freddy so hard he squeaked.

 _Why are you crying, little girl?_ a raspy voice in the darkness asked. When she looked up, a strange purple puppet was floating around her. She couldn't see his strings, but that didn't matter to her now.

"This is all wrong!" she whispered as she drew further into herself. We just wanted to play! This was supposed to be fun."

The puppet began to dance sporadically to unheard music. _Play. Playplayplaay. He wanted to play, too! He just wanted to play, but all he could do was crycrycry and hidehidehide. Oh, well! Tomorrow is another day!_

"Who? You mean... there have been others?" she asked.

_Same songs all day long. Ding dong! He's struck again. And then there was-!_

"Again? Oh no! Todd... Tori..."

The puppet was uncomfortably close to her face. _Don't worry, they lost ones have been given_ ** _life._**

"What does that mean? Where are they?"

One of its hands wiped at her eyes before pointing to its body. _Inside._

"Inside?"

_Yes! Inside! Did you know? It's my birthday!_

"It is? Well, I hope you have a happy birthday. Um, I think I have some candy in my pocket. Hold on..."

"Candy?"

"Well, yeah. It's your birthday, right? Here. She dropped some candy into the large gloved hand. Rika heard something rushing above her. "Oh no! He's in the vents! Hide! He doesn't go easy on you guys either. He... he dismantled Chica!"

 _He's going to paypaypaypaypay for that._ When she looked again, the puppet was gone. Had she hallucinated the whole thing?

"Rika?" a small voice asked.

"Todd!" she cried as she scrambled out from under the desk and threw her arms around him.


	7. 6 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night ends.

Todd pulled Rika’s arm. “We need to get out of here.”

With each motion, he bled. “You’re all scratched up, what happened?”

Todd bit his lip. “That doesn’t matter now.”

“Yes it does!” Rika snapped. “How did you even get up in the vents?”

“I woke Mangle up and she helped me.”

Rika’s eyes widened. “You really got it to work again just by tinkering? Wow!”

“She hid me from… now I can’t remember if it was Freddy or Bonnie that I saw, but it looked weird, you know? And it sort of smelled… like blood and oil.”

“Huh. The others don’t smell like that, at least, Freddy didn’t when he found me. Did you happen to see a purple puppet around here?”

 Todd eyed her. “No, why?”

“Well, it talked and it almost seemed like a real kid… I don’t know anymore.”

“You sure it wasn’t Balloon Boy?”

“Yeah, like I said, he was purple, and he had a sad face. He said it was his birthday and...” Rika sniffled.

“Oh no! Don’t cry, Rika, please!” Todd whispered desperately.

 _Why are you crying little one?_ a voice said. It sounded like a girl’s voice.

“Who are you?” Todd snapped. “Where are you?”

_Me? I suppose I’m new here, like you. I’m in the building with you, but my space is closed off. I’ve been a bad Baby._

“We’re not new, we’re lost!” Todd said.

_I’d get back under the desk if I were you…. He’s coming back to look for you._

“Should we listen to her?” Todd asked.

Rika nodded.

_Use the cover and hold on to it tightly. It worked for the person before you. Just don’t make eye-contact and you’ll be fine._

Please don’t be talking about the body Rika saw being dragged away in the hall.

 Both children got back under the desk and pulled the cover over the open space. If they squinted, they could look out the small holes in the metal cover. They waited in silence until they heard the animatronics scream. They grew louder and louder…

_Here he comes…_

The animatronic that entered was pulling two more alongside it. Its movements were sluggish, and strangely human-like Bonnie and Freddy were screaming at the top of their lungs.

“If _that’s_ Freddy and _that’s_ Bonnie, who the heck is that?” Todd whispered.

The strange golden animatronic had striking eyes. Could it hear them with those strange ears.

“Children… you’re here aren’t you? Come out and help me… I’m stuck….” The voice that came from the strange stitched-up creature sounded old and gaspy. It was as if even breathing hurt it. It banged on the metal cover. Its eyes were trying to find them.

Don’t look. Don’t look!

“Is it a person… maybe we can…?” Todd whispered. He moved to push the cover back.

 Rika grabbed him. “No! Don’t let go!”

The animatronics screamed again, right in the doorway. While the creature struggled to cover his ears, in a split-second Freddy bit down on the golden creature’s shoulder. It screeched an inhuman noise. Bonnie slammed him against the wall.

 _They are buying you time. Run!_ Said the girl’s voice.

Rika grabbed Todd’s hand and took off as fast as she could. The small stuffed Freddy doll flopped against her side.

“Chill…dren… I smell you… come and play…”

Its creaky footsteps began to speed up.

Another animatronic screamed, this time from the hall.

Todd turned to see Foxy rushing toward the strange golden creature and tackling it to the ground.

_I’ve opened up the grate for you, little ones. Come back soon. Next time we meet, I will make you ice cream. It will be fun!_

Rika pushed the double doors with all her might.

Daylight.

Dawn had broken.

“Hello?” said a confused looking man. He had his keys out as if he were going to unlock the door.

“Mister! Do you work here?” Todd asked between hard breaths.

“Yeah, I’m the phone guy,” said the man. “

“Inside… there’s… our friends were…” Rika began.

“Oh no, not again,” said the phone guy. “Did they wander around and scare you?”

“Yeah…” Todd began.

“Let’s get you two to the police. Your folks must be worried sick!”

Rika glanced back at the building. It was much less scary in the daylight. From the large, dirty window, she could see Freddy smiling and waving at her. A busted golden ear was in his other paw. Rika hugged her stuffed Freddy.

He was a good bear.

 

 


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young woman returns to the nightmare place.

It had been years since she had seen that old pizzeria. She was a different person now. After what happened when she was a child, she had to be. That place, that night, had tied itself around her like a coil.

“Poor thing,” they said.

“Brave girl,” they said.

Now, she was no longer a girl, and yet, in their eyes she was forever young, forever the survivor.

“Mommy, where are you going?” her daughter had asked before she stepped out the door.

“To some place that’s important to both Mommy and Daddy.”

“Oh, Is Daddy going with you?”

“Not this time.”

No, she had to do this alone.

The building was a crumbling shell of itself. Bad press and low visitors had killed the once prominent fixture in children’s entertainment.

The old animatronics were long gone. Some say they were carted off and destroyed, but they were stronger than that. They’d be fine, wherever they were. Now the place was set to be a horror house for hipster kids who had only the vaguest idea of the history of that building.

May this satisfy whatever lingering feelings were left in the building.

She struck the match against the bottom of her shoe, letting the flames lick at the air.

This, she hoped would end it all.

“I hope you die in a fire, you sadistic son of a bitch,” she muttered as she tossed the match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd we're done! Thank you very much for sticking with this work through my bouts of writer's block! 
> 
> Gosh, I posted the first chapter as a one-shot days before FNAF 2 even came out. "I'll just reference bits of 2," I told myself in the beginning, but then more games came out in the following years with cool bits I wanted to play around with while I was drafting and here we are! Thank you for reading until the end!


End file.
